2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey Results

Following are the results of the 2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey results for your review. Seventy five respondents completed the survey, answering most of the questions. As such, we have provided the total number of respondents and responses to further inform the results. Percentages listed represent percent of groups responding to specific questions, NOT a percentage of the total group response. In some cases, people had the option to select more than one answer, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

Explanations of “other” answers provided in response to open‐ended or follow‐up questions are listed so that you can see what is going on “out there” in the basin.

We hope this information is of interest to you and your group members, as we believe that information sharing is the key to successful stewardship efforts in the basin. If you have not already, please consider joining the Chesapeake Network group Potomac Basin Stewards: http://www.chesapeakenetwork.org/PotomacBasin and post news, funding, event, success and hardship stories in an effort to share your knowledge and experiences with other groups in the Potomac Basin.

A side goal of the survey was to generate interest in a Potomac Basin Stewards Map. The completed map can be found here: http://www.potomacriver.org/info_center/maps/kml/testmap/Watershed_Stewards_map.html. If your group is not yet on the map, please fill out the POTOMAC RIVER BASIN STEWARDS MAP form. (Available: https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/icprb.org/viewform?formkey=dFg0eG1TOFBtOTRaRGx5NVRDR1RXdlE6 MQ&ndplr=1)

Happy Spring to you all!

About the Groups:

Type of Organization:

Total number of responses: 75

Non-Profit 43 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), etc Other* 14 Government 12 For-profit 6

*Community, conservation district, a voluntary association of water suppliers and government agencies, informal, non-advocacy group with members from non- profits, association, public agency, neighborhood coalition, partnership, informal committee, informal alliance, community group, resident group, other

Does the group collect dues or donations? Total number of respondents: 67 Responses provided*: 90

No 24 27% Dues 24 27% Donations 42 47% *Respondents were allowed to select more than one answer. 2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey Results

Has the group been successful in fundraising?

Total number of responses: 56

Yes 32 57% No 24 43%

Please briefly describe fundraising success.  Annual membership, dues, contributions and giving campaigns, direct mail  Donations from a small number of donors, sportspersons groups  Foundation, government, corporate and small grants  Local businesses for their support of annual events  Golf tournaments, 5K races and community oriented events, river festivals  Proceeds from the sale of rain barrels, native plant sales, annual silent auctions, banquets raffles, and yard sales  Requests to members and friends for specific purposes (fieldwork, equipment items, etc.)

Please briefly describe how funds are used.  Fund environmental outreach education o production of brochures, posters, and public demonstration materials o equipment purchases: water-quality monitoring equipment (field microscopes, magnifying glasses), restoration project materials, annual stream walk and clean-up goods (gloves, trash bags), tree planting supplies, storm drain labeling materials  To plan, facilitate, analyze, map, or study environmental issues  Staff salaries  Organizations' general needs (office equipment and operating expenses, printing, website fees, insurance)  Purchase of vehicles (to include boats)  Keep the facilities open to the public and maintain the trails and buildings onsite  In-house science research not supported by state or federal contracts  Renting facilities for events, rental of portable toilets  Provision of food and water for volunteers  Pay for attendance at environmental workshops  Improvement of trout habitat and for increasing recreational opportunities for fly fishing for trout

Does the group have regularly scheduled meetings? Total number of responses: 66

Yes 38 58%

No 28 42%

If yes, when? Most groups reported meeting monthly or every other month and many reported that they hold annual meetings.

2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey Results

Approximate number of group members.

190 was the average (once we teased out some of the larger organization’s large numbers!) number of group members. Fifty-two responses were given and they varied from 5 to 1000.

Number of active members in the group.

Thirty-six was the average (again, sans large group numbers) number of active members reported by the 53 groups that responded. Responses ranged from 1-275.

Is the group affiliated with any other group(s)?

Total number of responses: 58

Yes 35 60%

No 23 40%

Groups most often listed by respondents: Alice Ferguson Foundation, Choose Clean Water, Izaak Walton League, Maryland Watershed Network, Potomac Conservancy, River Network.

Reaching Out:

Does the group have a website, and if so how often is it updated?

Total number of respondents: 66

Group does not have a website 2 Updated Daily 7 Updated Several times per month 27 Updated Once per month 12 Updated Bi-monthly 7 Updated 1-3 times per year 11

Does the group have a newsletter? Total number of respondents: 69 Responses provided*: 88

No 26 30% Yes hard copy 25 28% Yes electronic 37 42% *Respondents were allowed to select more than one answer.

2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey Results

Does the group utilize any of the following social networking tools?

Total number of respondents: 46 Responses provided: 77

Facebook 32 Chesapeake Network 18 Twitter 8 Google Groups 7 Yahoo Groups 6 Blog 2 Listserve 1 Wiki 1 Private email 1 Google Intranet 1 *Respondents were allowed to select more than one answer.

Group Projects:

What is the average number of projects the group completes per year? Fifty-three groups answered this question and the average number was 19. Answers ranged from 1-100 with Public education, volunteer monitoring and clean-ups listed as the most performed projects.

Other types of projects reported included:

 Rain garden installations  School partnership  Tree plantings  Storm drain stenciling  Rain barrels  Underwater archaeological reconnaissance  Advocacy  Reforestation maintenance  Fish blockage removal  Deer management issues  School-yard habitat  RechargeChambers/ Stormceptors/ Filters  Wetlands  SAV restoration  Native grasses  Marsh grass planting  Invasive species control  Phragmites elimination

 Stream restoration  Trail restoration

 Oyster bar restoration  Erosion control

 Pharmaceutical Take Backs  Research methodology development  Ag & Horse Farm BMP's  Habitat enhancement  Legal action to enforce pollution law  Partnership planning analysis  Slide show presentations  Composting  Natives/IPM

2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey Results

Future Directions:

What are the group's top 2 priorities for 2011? We planned to list a few of the big ones here but once we started reading these, we felt the need to share as many of these amazing goals as we could fit on two pages. We’d like to thank you all for your great service to every last tributary in the Potomac Basin. What an amazing group of people you are!

 Promote public education about the value of watersheds and teach others to be responsible stewards of their watershed  Participate in hands‐on activities that teach local residents conservation practices and how to monitor the health of their local streams and watershed  Protect endangered species  Write a WIP for the St. Mary's River watershed, and begin implementation with 5 bioretention stormwater retrofit projects  Plant two million oysters on rehabilitated bars  Save Mattawoman forests and enforce TMDL's for Mattawoman Creek  Finding ways to get recognized, stronger protection plan for Back Creek and educating others about Back Creek, and its unique eco‐system, rare and endangered species  Continue Cleaning Historic Bread and Cheese Creek and educate the public on the importance and history of Bread and Cheese Creek  National Scenic River designation study  Expanding our teacher professional development program  Continue growing our volunteer programs, despite budget cuts  Better capturing of data through outcome measures  Bag fee legislation in Maryland and Virginia  Twice‐annual litter clean‐ups "Sweep the Creek" Regular water‐quality assessments (chemical and biological)  Potomac Watershed Partnership expansion  Restore stream to hold trout  K‐12 Education & use of www.cacaponinstitute.org/e_classroom.htm  Make regulators understand that dependence on Environmental Site Design practices without backup systems is a disaster in the making and will be the demise of the Bay  Maintenance of all Best management Pratices (BMPs) is needed and a system of BMPs must be visioned for 100 years and longer  Restore water quality by advocating sound policy and promoting thoughtful land management  Protect and restore Potomac landscapes by enhancing a network of rivers, forests, and natural areas  Cable television program  Start another cycle of creek cleanups, one creek each year for the next 10 years  Incorporate specific properties in need of marsh maintenance, marsh grass planting and Phragmites elimination  Planting more trees and promoting trees as vital infrastructure  Opening 4 miles of new trophy trout water on the Upper South River  Restoring Coyner Spring Run, a limestone spring fed tributary to South River  Building the next generation of conservation leaders  Providing meaningful service and educational opportunities to more than 2,500 young people in the region  Get better enforcement of sediment laws 

2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey Results

Future Directions, cont.

 Greatly increase public education and acceptance of stormwater infiltration on private property and in streets  Ensuring that county and local plans and procedures are in place in case of a water emergency or disaster  Completing the recommendations of the SWAP report and helping to establish a permanent watershed organization  Continue our successful relationship with US Navy  Develop new community partnerships  Advocate for county‐wide stormwater ordinance  Expand stream flow/groundwater monitoring to support the county's Water Resources Advisory Committee (which WAAC helped bring into being)  Keep an eye on the sand mining  See if some land conservation can occur for large parcels that surround the headwaters of Maddox Creek  Complete development of a matrix‐based research methodology for assessing data gaps and for prioritizing pesticide compounds‐of‐concern in the Bay watershed  Complete development and distribution of a matrix‐based online repository of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for reducing runoff in the agricultural, residential and commercial sectors  Communications ‐ strengthen our capacity to communicate with many more people in the watershed  Recreation ‐ Lay the foundation for a robust recreation program  Revitalize our educational programs and our volunteer opportunities  Develop and implement our BioHaven Floating Treatment Wetland product within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed and elsewhere to provide innovative bioremediation to areas needing water  Quality improvement, nutrient removal, silt reduction, and habitat enhancement  Increase public awareness of our Center and diversify our funding sources  Complete storm drain marking  Complete and distribute video about beautiful Page County water resources, local stewards and challenges remaining for care of water resources  Developing stream teams to adopt creeks and sections of creek and installation of LID demonstration projects  Increase the knowledge of local decision makers about water resources  Promote a better understanding of environmental stewardship through participation in community events and providing a directory of teachers, places and resources to connect children and their parents with nature  Serving 2000+ students and adults through programming that increases the population's understanding of the important role mountain headwaters have in overall water quality and quantity  Work to diminish fecal coliform in Sleepy Creek by providing funds to pump septic systems and replace failing septic systems (using our 319 Grant funds) and encourage farmers to fence stream against livestock  Exploring pervious surface installations to reduce stormwater runoff into the creek 

2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey Results

What are the group's top 2 constraints for 2011?

 Fund raising  New construction projects  Budget  Destructive zoning  Decreases in foundation giving, as  Myopic vision on the use of ESD a result of our slower economy  Great complexity in water quality  Lack of economic activities standards  Need more participation from  Public apathy regarding water(except in young adults drought situations)  Getting enough active volunteers  Local government apathy(lack of  Volunteer coordination knowledge)  Volunteer time of technical experts  Ability to convince school

 Membership/initiatives administrations that outdoor education is

 Too few activists important

 Operational support  Large property owners who have lived here for a long time do not wish to  Limited staff  Leadership constrain sand mining b/c of the profits that they are realizing  Reaching new audiences  Resources Antiquated  The biggest constraint for 2011, as well as in the past, is trying to figure out the  Brand new, so we don't know our best methods for getting the word out to limits the community about various  Not formally organized environmental programs, projects and  Size (area) of the Potomac activities. watershed  Too many things need to be done!

Collaboration:

In which of the following areas could the group use assistance? Total number of respondents: 46 Responses provided: 156

Partnering on grants 35 In-kind services such as printing/ poster/web design 27 Grant seeking and writing 25 Designing and delivering educational presentations 24 Technical or scientific assistance 23 Organization of group 9 Other* 13

* More active volunteers, funds, general support for academy, promotion of our programs & membership, date-base management, technical seminars, advocating, riparian plant materials, funding, marketing & fundraising, increasing membership, volunteers for our existing programs

Once again, thanks for making a huge difference!

2011 Potomac Basin Watershed Group Survey Results